AI at Olympics: How artificial intelligence is helping Paris and the IOC

AI-powered applications have sped their way into education, healthcare and many other industries fairly quickly over the past two years. Seeing artificial intelligence be a buzzword at an event as big as the Paris Olympics is hardly a surprise for anyone. And yet, the applications of AI at the Paris Olympics happen to be some of the best, most creative uses we have seen so far.

From curbing cyber-abuse against the athletes, to monitoring energy consumption, AI is doing a lot in Paris. Here’s a look at what sectors are powered by AI, and also how the tech will make planning for future Olympics easier.

Helping Athletes navigate Paris

Applications begin with something as simple as making life easier for all the Athletes visiting Paris for the tournament. Intel, one of the big names in AI laptops right now, has created a dedicated AI-powered chatbot for athletes.

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The smartphone app can answer all kinds of queries such as how to make their way through the city, or even the best spots to eat.

Granted, a lot of popular apps can already do this, but the chatbot likely operates in a much more conversational manner, and probably has support for several languages – all of which is also updated in real-time.

Keeping time, with AI

Watch-maker Omega, a name you’d remember from the Daniel Craig James Bond movies, is playing a key role in Paris. As the official time-keeping partner at the Olympics, Omega is responsible for all the tech that decides who crossed the finish line first, or other winning/losing factors across sports.

The Swiss watch-maker is using AI tech to power its ‘Computer Vision technology’ that can accurately monitor athletes and objects (like javelins) without requiring physical tags.

There’s also the debut of the Omega Scan’O’Vision Ultimate, a camera technology that can capture 40,000 images per second at the finish line to accurately set apart even the closest of margins.

Preventing cyber abuse

AI is also helping identify online abuse against athletes on social media. A new monitoring system will oversee posts from thousands of social media accounts and flag abusive content for moderation.

As per a post by the IOC, the service will not only be available for athletes, but also entourage members and technical officials, who also play a key role. The service will be deployed on X (previously Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Data capture and energy management

Several behind-the-scenes AI applications at the Paris Olympics are also helping the International Olympic Committee (IOC) monitor the energy consumption at the tournament in real-time. This data capture will help plan future Olympics, and will give planners a data-driven forecast into aspects like power requirements, camera placements and more.

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The IOC is also partnering with Intel to create what’s called a ‘Digital twin’ or a digital copy of a real-world asset (in this case, the Olympic venue of Paris).

This digital twin then uses data streams from the venue to “improve collaboration, information access and decision-making”.

AI-powered multi-cam broadcasting

AI is also powering broadcasting at the Olympics, and the IOC has collaborated with Worldwide Olympic Partner Alibaba “to provide a record number of multi-camera replay systems with AI-powered, high-quality reconstruction in the cloud, to create three-dimensional models and mapping of additional viewpoints across 21 sports and disciplines”.

What that means is a more cohesive approach to multi-camera angles that help broadcasters efficiently showcase the best angles of the action to streaming services across the globe, thanks to some AI help.

Automatic highlights generation

Not all the good stuff is for those directly involved with the Olympics and the IOC. AI is also helping power a cool highlights feature for spectators. AI-powered highlights, thanks to Intel’s Automatic Highlights Generation system, uses training from Olympic archive videos to generate highlights without the conventional tagging-and-clipping approach.

These are some of the many interesting ways artificial intelligence is making life easier for athletes, organisers and even viewers at the Olympics.

From error-reduction to convenience, one can only imagine what other perks AI will offer by the time the next Olympic games take shape in 2028.